Before you start a business, it is important to consider the things that will be required to be successful in that business. This is especially true when the business requires that you interact with people, and it is pretty hard to find any business completely absent of that. JumpBunch, for instance, is a business where people drive things from every angle, almost like the wheels on a car. If one tire is low, it affects the performance of the vehicle as a whole. A blowout of a tire stops you in your tracks. By carefully considering what has to be done for success, considering if you are able to do it, and realistically asking if you will do it, the road to owning your own business can be one that leads you to where you want to go instead of where you simply end up.
Author Brian Tracy has a great, easy reading book called "Eat That Frog" modeled after the saying that if you eat a frog first thing everyday then nothing worse can happen the rest of the day. The idea is aimed at reducing procrastination by identifying the most difficult things on your to-do list and taking care of them first. What often happens instead though is that we confuse being busy with getting the right things done that actually make the most difference. This idea is also known as the 80/20 rule, or the Pareto Principle. In short, 80% of your results come from only 20% of what you actually do. Makes you wonder why we even do those other things that are 80% of our time doesn't it?
Though you may or may not actually say the words "what if?", everyone occasionally wonders about some of the countless decisions you didn't make. I'm not talking about the less significant ones like "What if I had worn that blue shirt yesterday?' or "What if I had ordered a latte instead of a cappuccino?". No, in the grand scheme of things those likely didn't throw you too far in one direction or another. Now, some other ones such as "What if I had gotten to work on time?" or "What if I had asked someone else out instead of her?" might have had a much greater impact. Nevertheless, it is human nature to pause at certain times to think "What if?".
There are four things necessary to succeed in JumpBunch, or most all other businesses for that matter. By succeed I don't mean to have some success. In fact, you may only be able to consistently do 1-2 of these things to see some sporadic progress and growth. Inevitably you will be derailed temporarily or permanently without intrinsically having them all or quickly being able to understand and master them.
When you hear the name Amelia Earhart there is only one thing that comes to mind. As the first woman to ever attempt a flight around the world, her name is now synonymous with blazing a trail for female pilots. Did you know though that Amelia Earhart is still alive? Amelia Rose Earhart indeed lives, and every day she is asked about her famous name. When her parents, who obviously already had the last name, decided to name her after one of the most famous women ever they did that in part to hopefully inspire her to do something just as great.
A pure entrepreneur is likely to want an environment where they have complete freedom to take an original idea, uniquely create a model for it to thrive, and operate according to their own set of rules. Before going down the road to franchising, it is important to consider whether how you're wired as a potential business owner is going to be compatible with an established and standardized system.
Persistence, resilience, tolerance for risk, and courage are all qualities you need to be a successful business owner, or in our case, a franchisee. The reality is that you need all of these, but which is most important? A survey of our JumpBunch franchisees revealed opinions that broke out in the following way.
